Various trays are utilized for storage of contents, such as food products. Commonly, the intended uses of a specific tray can determine the strength that the tray requires. Increasing the sidewall thickness of a tray can increase the stacking strength of the tray, but the increased material required for the extra sidewall thickness can undesirably increase production costs. Ribbing extending vertically from an upper edge of a sidewall to a bottom wall is known to increase the stacking strength of a sidewall. As such, a thin sidewall with ribbing can have a stacking strength similar to a relatively thicker sidewall. For many purposes, a tray having a thin sidewall with vertical ribbing is sufficient.
Compressive strength is the capacity of a material or structure to withstand vertical loads. When the limit of compressive strength is reached, materials are crushed. Increased compressive strength can be important in food product storage because multiple containers can be stacked on top of one another for storage and display purposes. If too much weight is stacked on a container, the container can be crushed or otherwise deformed, and the appearance of the container and its contents negatively impacted. Accordingly, the compressive strength of the individual containers can limit the size of available storage receptacles and display configurations for groups of the containers.